Wooden Ships
by hippiecrack
Summary: All it takes is one Rush album to make something happen. Nick/OC (Previously a one-shot)
1. Chapter 1

this is a one-shot.

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><p>Chippewa, Michigan.<p>

February 1981.

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><p>June pushed open the door and walked into the record store relishing at tingling of the bell that hung above the door. June had just moved into the town of Chippewa, Michigan a little after Christmas break, and the record store had been one of the first things she took note of in the town. She had yet to start attending school yet but that would all change tomorrow when she walked through the doors of William McKinley High School. Today was a particularly great day for June because her birthday had just pasted so she had quite a bit of birthday cash to blow, so she could finally buy Rush's new album Moving Pictures. Ever since she first heard Tom Sawyer on the radio she knew that she had to buy the album, and Rush just happened to be one of her favorite bands. Making her way through the store she reached the section that held all the band's that started with the letter R, and there it was still wrapped in plastic, Moving Pictures. A grin made it's way across her face, it was the last one left and it was all hers, that was until someone rushed past her and took the record into their hands. She couldn't even think for a second, this boy had just rushed in and took her album, oh no way was this happening.<p>

"Hey! I was totally here first, and I'm not trying to be rude or anything but, that record is mine!" June said firmly with her hands placed on her hips

The boy who had the record in his hands slowly looked her up and down not being discrete at all about it, just blatantly checking her out. "Do I know you?" he said to her

"Uh, no. I just moved here, but seriously dude give me my record," She was not in the mood for this, and although he may have been cute, this album was hers.

"Yeah I didn't think so, because I defiantly would have remembered seeing _you_ before," he said while waggling his eyebrows a bit. This was absolutely ridiculous he didn't even care about the album that he had in his hands, and all he could think about was trying to hit on her "So what's you're name? I'm Nick," he said while holding out his hand to her

June starred at his hand wide-eyed, this guy 'nick' was ridiculous did he not hear her when she said that she wanted that record? But she didn't want to seem like a bitch, for all she knew this kid could be someone she went to school with, so she took his hand into hers into a handshake "Hi Nick, I'm June, and I would really appreciate it if you gave me that record so I could buy it,"

A smile quickly appeared onto Nick's face once she mentioned the album again "You listen to Rush" he said quickly

"Yeah Man, are you kidding me? Rush is like my all time favorite band" She said like it was one of the most commonly known things in the world

"Oh no way? Me too, have you heard Tom Sawyer yet? If not you're totally missing out it's so good,"

June stared at Nick with the smallest of smiles on her face, he was cute, he acted sort of goofy but it was endearing, and he obviously had a good taste in music so that was a plus. The way his face lit up the moment she said that Rush was her favorite band was adorable, it was like someone had just given him a wad of cash, and it made her a little less angry that he still had her album in his hands.

"Yeah I've heard Tom Sawyer, that single came out on my birthday, and the moment I heard it I knew I had to come buy that album,"

"This album?" Nick said while he looked down at the album he had his fingers around "Oh shit, I'm sorry I didn't even realize," he said while looking very flustered "but man, I've wanted this album for a while, but you were here first, shit" he mumbled not expecting June to hear him arguing with himself

"No worries man, you keep it, I can buy it another time." And although that did hurt to say, she said it with a sincere smile open her face

"Well, I mean you can come over and listen to it with me, if you want," Nick said as he looked down at his feet nervously

She didn't know wether or not to say yes, she had just met this guy, he could be a major creep for all she knew. But it's not like she had any other friends in town "Yeah man, that would be really cool," June said with a bright smile on her face

"Really? That's great! Are you doing anything right after this?" He asked hopefully

"Nope," June said popping the p in that word just a bit

"Cool, I can't wait to listen to this album it's gonna rock so hard," he said as he quickly walked over to the register shoveling wrinkled bills out of his pockets, along with random amounts of change "Alright, you ready?"

She nodded and followed him out of the store, it was fairly windy out and thank goodness she had a hat on or her auburn hair would have whipped around her head ferociously. Winter in Michigan sure was something else, she had never experienced weather like this in Florida, she looked up at the sky in amazement as snowflakes began to fall from the gray sky. She pulled her hat down further onto to her head as she slowly walked and gazed at the sky, snowflakes falling gingerly on her pink tinted nose as she stared. It was amusing how amazed she was at the flakes falling from the sky, she was like a child who had just experienced their first Christmas morning.

"Does it snow a lot here?" June asked Nick picking up her pace a little in order to catch up with him

"Yeah some years it does, it's a total drag sometimes though, having to shovel and stuff," Nick said shrugging his shoulders "Where are you from anyway? 'Cause by the way you're looking that the snow it's like you've never seen it before,"

"Well, that's because this is my first time ever seeing snow, I moved from Florida," June said as she stuffed her hands into her pockets

"You'll learn to hate it after a while, trust me. So why Chippewa?" Nick said with a smirk on his face

"It's kind of personal, and we just met, so lets save that one for another day," She said as she gently nudged him with her elbow

"Hey no problem, I probably wouldn't be trying to tell all my secrets to a guy who I just met, and to a guy who bought the last Rush album," he said jokingly

June laughed and shook her head "You're lucky I let you buy it, I've wanted it since my birthday, but I don't want to come across as a bitch before I even start school," she said while smiling

"You're going to William McKinley right?"

She nodded her head, as the kept on walking she found herself getting colder, and colder she defiantly was not prepared for this type of weather. She wrapped her arms around her middle in a vain attempt to keep herself warm in the snow, but it wasn't really working all too well. She suddenly felt something drape across the back of her neck, it was an orange scarf. She looked up to see that Nick had taken off his scarf and given it to her, he was smiling sheepishly above her with a small hint of a blush across his cheeks, or it could have just been from the cold. She smiled up at him and whispered a hushed thanks, she carefully wrapped the scarf around her neck, and it did help her warm up but she didn't think it was all because of the scarf he had given her.

"So Nick, do you usually do this?" Nick looked at with a confused look written across his face "You know, invite random girls to your house to listen to Rush?" Nick's entire faced turned red at that comment and June couldn't help but laugh "I'm just kidding, it's really cool that you asked me to come over,"

Nick couldn't help but start to feel nervous every time a smile spread across June's face, it was like the sun peaked out from it's place behind the clouds every time she laughed or smiled. So her name did fit her in that sense, she really was like June, she was like walking sunshine really. Nick couldn't fathom why he had asked her to come over, or why she even agreed, but he was glad she did. June wasn't anything like Lindsay from what he could tell, Lindsay would have never gone off with some guy she just met to listen to Rush, sometimes he wondered if she even liked Rush. But who cares, Lindsay broke up with him not the other way around, but god, she was just so beautiful to him, she just looked so gorgeous without even trying. But now there was June, yeah he had just met her but, she liked Rush and she was attractive, what's not to like about her? Nick tried his hardest to fight the battle that was going on in his mind but he couldn't help but continue to compare June to Lindsay.

"Hey, Nick, you okay?" Nick hadn't even noticed that he had stopped walking and that June was currently touching his face with her small cold hands. He couldn't even think of a response he just stood there and stared at her. "You totally spaced out for awhile, you freaked me out dude, I thought I was going to have to call the ambulance or something," June said with her hand still placed gingerly on his cheeks

"Yeah, sorry I was thinking.." Nick said although he thoughts that was probably one of the dumbest things he had ever said in his life

"No problem, happens to me all the time, you just get really caught up in whatever it is that you're thinking about and you just go into space," June said sincerely

"This is my house by the way, come on we're gonna go in the basement," Nick said as he lead her into his house and downstairs

The moment they touched ground in the basement Nick ran over to the record player and placed Moving Pictures onto it. Nick and June both sat down on the couch watching the needle slowly move its way around the vinyl record, both anxiously waiting for the sounds of Tom Sawyer, and then it came. They both basked in the sounds of Neil Peart's drums and Geddy Lee's voice, June watched as Nick animately played the air drums with his eyes closed. And while she watched him do so she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about earlier that made him space out so much. Not that it was any of her business, but a little curiosity never hurt anyone, right?

"Nick, what were you thinking about early when you stopped walking?" June blurted out bluntly

"Huh? Oh man, just somethings, it's nothing really," Nick said while rubbing the back of his neck

"Nothin' huh? Well, then I guess your head was just filled with a whole lotta nothing," June said as she idly wrapped a piece of her hair around her finger

"It was a girl," Nick said with his eyes casted downward

"Oh yeah? What about this girl?" June was excited that he had started to tell her what was on his mind

"We went out for a little bit," he paused sighing a bit "then she broke up with me, but sometimes I'm just not sure if I am over her," he paused again "It's not like we were dating for a long time either it was just, she was the first girl to show any interest in me in a long time," he ran his hands through his hair "We didn't really have a lot in common either. It just sucks, you know, being dumped?"

"Well, Nick, I'm no relationship expert but whoever this girl is probably isn't worth your time," Nick looked at her eyes wide with shock, he couldn't believe she had just said that about Lindsay "Look, I'm not trying to be rude or diss this girl or anything but, If she couldn't see how great of a guy you are, forget about her," If there was one thing Nick had noticed about June, it was how blunt and brutally honest she could be.

"Yeah but, it wasn't all her fault," he started "I was kind of clingy, and I didn't really give her space, or atleast that was she said," Nick said trying to defend Lindsay

"Ok but, if she would have really liked you she would have talked to you about this and maybe tried to fix it before she broke up with you," June stopped and looked at Nick his eyes were once again gazing at the floor "Hey, I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just giving you my opinion, and it really doesn't mean anything because I hardly know you, and I don't even know this girl,"

"Don't worry about it," Nick said flatly

June frowned and placed her hands on Nick's cheeks for the second time that day and turned his head towards her. "Nick from what I can tell you are a great guy, and any girl that dumps you is stupid, whoever this girl is she obviously just wasn't read for a relationship. So don't get yourself so down, you've got your entire life ahead of you, and you'll meet plenty of girls who want to be with you," June said with a small smile on her face

June and Nick stared at each other unblinking while the sounds of rush wafted through the air in the basement. Neither of them were sure what to do at this moment, nor could they tune in to what the other person was going to do next. But finally someone took the initiative, Nick gently grabbed June's chin with this pointer finger and thumb and brought her face closer to his. They could feel each others breath on there faces, they were breathing the same air at that point. June's eyes fluttered closed, her thick lashes resting tenderly on her flushed cheeks, Nick just stared he knew what he wanted to do but he wasn't sure if he could do it. But he pushed those feelings aside and placed his lips on June's, she responded quickly and nervously. What the hell was going on with her life today, first someone random guy buys her record, then she ends up at this random guys house listening to said record, and now her and this guy were kissing. June was so lost in there kisses she didn't even realize that Nick's hands had traveled down to her hips and her hands were playing with his hair. June was the one to pull away from the kiss, and although they had stopped kissing neither of them moved their hands, they just sat there staring at one another thinking of what to say or do next. And that's when they realized that they needed to flip the record to side two, and that they hadn't been listening to the record at all. June quickly glanced over at a clock on the basement wall and discovered that it was almost seven at night.

"Shit, I told my mom I'd be home like an hour and a half ago," June said mostly to herself as she pushed herself up from the couch. She began to put on her jacket and hat, and then started to pull the orange scarf around her neck until she realized it didn't belong to her. She went to place it back down on the chair but Nick had gotten up and taken the scarf into his hands and tied it around her neck.

"Keep it for now, when you see me in school tomorrow you can give it back if you want," Nick said to her as he placed his hands on her shoulders

"Thanks," June whispered

"No problem, thanks for um, listening to Rush with me," Nick said

June nodded and walked up the stairs from the basement and onto the main floor of the house, Nick hadn't followed her up so she let herself out and began to walk home. Today was a very different day from what she had expected it to be, she didn't even get the album that she wanted. But maybe, just maybe things were looking up for June in Chippewa, Michigan.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, it's not a one-shot, how bout that.

Sorry that I am the word's worst updater by the way, I just don't have ideas, and I don't want to put out half-assed work. 

-x- 

"Are you sure you know how to get there?" June's mom asked her for the third time that morning 

"Yes Mom, I know how to get to school," June walked across the room to get her backpack, she glanced over at her mom and saw her nervously playing with the keys to her car. "Mom, relax, I'll be fine," 

"I know, I know, but I know you didn't really want to move here, and I know you're still upset about leaving all your friends back home," Her mom sighed and placed the car keys in the palm of June's hand "Have a good first day sweetheart," 

"Thanks Mom, love you," 

June headed outside into the frigid morning air of Michigan, with one hand shoved inside her jacket pocket she jiggled her car key in the door attempting to open her burnt orange VW mini bus. Finally the lock clicked signaling that the door had finally unlocked so she could finally escape the cold air. Being the new kid is always tough, it's never easy moving somewhere completely unfamiliar and trying to fit in with the crowd there. As June was driving to school she couldn't help but think about Nick, he was one of three people she knew in Michigan (her mom and dad included) and she wondered if he would even talk to her today. I mean she was the new kid, and maybe Nick was really cool, and popular and the only reason he talked to her yesterday is because no one he knew was around. June pulled into the parking lot of William McKinley she was gripping the steering wheel of her car so tight what her knuckles were turning white. With a deep breath, and a ton of optimism she walked out of her car and convinced herself she was ready for her first day of school. Walking through the hallways that first time was the most nerve-racking experience of her 17 year-old life. It felt like everyone was staring at her, judging her, and already putting her into some sub-category that everyone is put into during their high school career. 

June finally reached the main office and walked right up to the main desk "Um, hi, I'm new here, my names June Matsen," 

The woman sitting at the front desk who's name was apparently 'Mrs. Friedman' peaked over her circular glasses and looked June up and down "Right," She began to shuffle through envelopes and finally pulled out a manilla folder marked 'Matsen, June' 

"Alright here you go, you've got your schedule, locker combination, and yeah that's it," 

"505, Jesus Christ that's a lot of lockers, how the hell do they expect you to find your locker?" June thought "502, 503, 504, finally 505," June tried putting in her combination about five times but the locker just wouldn't budge. 

"Hey you need some help?" the kid who asked her this was quite short so she assumed he was a freshman. 

"Yeah I do actually," She said as she stepped away from the locker giving him some room "I've been at it for like five minutes, the thing just won't open," 

"Some of the lockers are like that, you just gotta give them a little kick," And just like that the locker door swung open 

"Oh my god, thank you" June began to put her coat, scarf, and other wintery items in her locker, she had completely forgotten about the boy who had opened her locker for her. 

"I'm Sam," the boy said making his presence known again 

"Oh shit, sorry, I'm June, I just moved here," June said with her head still in the locker 

"So uh, what grade are you in?" He was really short, I mean really, really short 

"I'm a junior. Hey, do you know where this room is?" June asked as she showed him the piece of paper with her schedule neatly printed on it 

"Yeah it's upstairs, on the second floor" Sam said with a smile 

"Thanks again Sam, it was really cool of you to help me," 

With that June walked away the halls were filled with students all crowded around into little groups talking to one another. Class didn't start for another seven minutes but it's not like she had anyone to stop and talk to so she just went straight to class. As she was walking to class she became very hyperaware of the backpack that was resting on her shoulders, no one else here seemed to carry around a backpack. 

"Great now I'm going to be labeled as weird-backpack-girl-who-can't-open-her-own-locker, " June mumbled 

June reached the classroom, she took a deep breath and walked inside, the only people in the classroom were a girl, and the teacher. 

"Oh, hello. You must be June, right?" June nodded her head with a smile "Well welcome to my classroom, I'm Mr. Sampson," 

"Is there assigned seating?" June asked the balding English teacher 

"No, just sit wherever you'd like," 

June gave the room a quick scan and decided to sit next to the girl in the classroom. She had long pin straight brown hair, and a powder blue cardigan on. She quickly walked through the aisles of empty seats and sat at the desk next to the brunette. June could hear her heart beating in her ears, and she couldn't get her hands to stop shaking. She wondered what she was even nervous about, it was only English, it's not she was walking up to the guillotine. She shuffled through her backpack and pulled out a notebook, and a black pen. 

"Hi," the brunette turned to face June "I'm Millie" she said with a smile on her face 

"Hey!" June was just excited that someone that wasn't a faculty member chose to talk to her "I'm June" 

"I really like your backpack, does it have pockets on the inside for your pencils and stuff?" June couldn't believe she just asked about her backpack 

"Yeah, it's pretty handy," June reached down and pulled her backpack out from under her desk to show her the inside compartment of her backpack. 

Suddenly the bell rang and a rush of students came flooding into the classroom and took their seats. There was an eclectic group of students at William McKinley; their were of course those who some may call "geeks", your burnouts, cheerleaders and jocks, and some that didn't exactly fit into one particular sub-division. 

"Alright everyone relax," Mr. Sampson was now standing in front of the classroom "I know that your winter breaks must have been so exciting, but you can talk about that later," He cleared his throat after the classroom went silent "We have a fresh face joining us today, June?" June looked up at with a look of pure fear "How about you stand up and tell everyone a little bit about yourself?" 

June got up from her desk slowly listen to the chair scrape across the tiled floor, she took a deep breath and spoke: "Um, my name is June Masten, I moved here from Florida, and yeah, I that's it" 

"Great, lets get started," 

English class went by quickly, talked about the books they would be reading for the semester, and how they would apply to the course. June walked out of the classroom with her backpack slung over one of her shoulder, she had a free period next so she didn't exactly rush. 

She wandered back to her locker in search for the cigarettes she had left in her jacket pocket. She saw Sam at his locker with two of what she assumed to be his friends. 

"Hey Sam," 

"Oh!" Sam seemed very surprised that she had talked to him, his friends seemed equally as shocked "Did you find your classroom?" 

"Yeah, I did, thanks again for helping me open my locker, hopefully I'll be able to handle it on my own this time," June noticed that the other two boys were still staring at her so she decided now would be a good time to introduce herself "I'm June," 

"Bill," the taller of the three introduced himself 

"Neil," he stuck out his hand for her to shake, she smiled and accepted it 

"So you're all freshmen?" she questioned 

"Yeah," the one with glasses answered she noticed he was wearing a red t-shirt with the Millennium Falcon on it. 

"That's a pretty awesome shirt Bill," she acknowledge as she pointed at his shirt "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid," 

"You like Star Wars?" Neil exclaimed, June could clearly hear the shock in his voice 

"Yeah," June smirked "You expect me to like movies like Little Darlings, right? Welcome to 1981 Neil, women can be interested in sci-fi too" June laughed, and once again the three boys were looking at her with shock etched all over their faces. 

"It was nice meeting you guys, I'll see you later Sam" June swiftly grabbed her jacket and headed outside. 

There were a few people outside on the patio socializing, June picked an empty picnic bench and stationed herself there. She quickly slipped on her jacket, and stuffed her hands into the pockets in search for the tiny box that housed her cigarettes. She pulled one of the cylindrical tobacco products out, placed it in her mouth, and lit the tip with her lighter. 

"Hey you gotta light?" It was a guy, he had a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. He oozed some type of "Rebel Without a Cause" attitude, with his overly gelled hair. 

"Yup," she dropped the lighter into his palm. 

"Who're you?" he asked her bluntly 

"I'm June, who are you?" She said reminding herself of the hookah smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland 

"Daniel," he paused to light his cigarette "You new here or something?" 

June nodded her head, and took a long drag from her cigarette, blowing the smoke out of her noise while staring at Daniel. 

"Cool," 

The conversation between the two of them was thrilling to say the least. It wasn't like talking to Nick the day before. Nick, her thoughts went to him again, you would think that it would be easy to find an extremely tall kid in a sea of average sized teenagers. June crushed the butt of the cigarette onto the top of the picnic table and looked over at Daniel who was twiddling her lighter between his fingers. 

"Hey, can I have that back?" 

Daniel looked over at her absentmindedly "Yeah," he tossed the lighter back over to her and it landed lightly into the palm of her hands. "Thanks," 

June turned her back to him and began to walk back inside and was greeted with the hard chest of a very tall teenage boy. 

"June!" he practically yelled at her as he grabbed her shoulders to steady her "I've been looking around for you," 

"You have?" June coughed "I mean, uh, I've been here, ya know, class, and stuff," she said lamely 

Suddenly a cigarette butt came flying towards Nick's head "Yo Andopolis," 

"Oh, hey Daniel" 

Daniel raised an eyebrow at the two of them "How do you two know each other" 

Nick and June looked at each other momentarily not knowing what to say to Daniel about how they met, or if they even should tell him and just make something up. 

June was the first one to speak "We both like Rush,"


End file.
